As anyone who knows me will say, I am one of those terrible people who live in the 'London bubble'. To me, anything north of Watford is 'the north' and ask me to point to anything other than London on a map of the UK and I am going to embarrass myself. But although I adore London and will always come back, I also have an incredible wanderlust. I have always loved travelling and I am an insatiably nosey and curious person. I love meeting new people and seeing new places so now here I am, preparing to venture out of my little London bubble and well out of my comfort zone.
Leaving the day before my 22nd birthday, I am heading to China to start a 5 month contract teaching English. Right now all I really know is that I am flying out to Beijing for a week training and beyond that my stay is truly a mystery. I don't know where I'll be placed (I didn't realise how huge China really is before now) or even what age I'll be teaching. It is hard to explain quite how excited I really am and weirdly I don't really feel nervous or apprehensive at all, but perhaps I should be.
I have always wanted to visit China. As a tiny child because of my obsession with pandas but as I grew older because of China's rich culture and history. That I'm staying for 5 months instead of a 2 week holiday just feels like a dream right now and I'm beyond excited to be able to visit the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army and all the other amazing sights I've been daydreaming about on Pinterest.
The only point which does cause me an inkling of worry is that I have never actually stood in front of a class before. What if, god forbid, I get my brand new class of lovely children and suddenly discover that I hate teaching? I really don't think it will happen and for now let's just ignore it and say that that will be a hurdle I cross if it comes up!
But even if there is one element I don't enjoy about my trip, I know in my heart of hearts that there will be dozens of other things that I am enjoying so any worries of mine are quickly abandoned.
Overall it is definitely my mum who is most worried. She regularly sends me articles about weird and bizarre things that have happened in China.
To calm her mothers paranoia I have promised that I will keep my London 'ghetto' common sense about me at all times and that I won't scold my students too harshly so that they won't try to kill me, or themselves. Outside of all the excitement and mother drama there are lots of things I will miss about my little London bubble. Here are the top three...
1) My Friends and Facebook
Friends had to come first. With the difficultly of actually getting onto Facebook, or any social media really, it will inevitably be difficult to keep in contact with people and as a person who is permanently attached to my phone this could be challenging. But my hope is that of will be having too much fun and be too busy to worry too much about getting on social media. Although if it isn't posted on Facebook or Instagram, did it really happen? Hey-ho. They managed in 'the olden days' with no internet or mobiles so I'm sure I will survive on email and skype.
2) Good Old British Food
There is nothing like sausage, mashed potatoes and beans on a cold winter evening or a delicious Caesar salad (okay okay maybe not the most British of meals) on a hot summers day! I love Asian cuisine and I'm actually looking forward to trying some of the uh...delicacies, such as chicken feet (although I think I'll be giving monkey brains a miss) but sometimes I just want a bit of British cooking!
3) Sleeping In
I'm not sure if the rumours are true, but I have heard that Chinese schools can start their school day at 5:30am and end at 8pm. If this is true it will be a complete shock to the system. Currently early rising is not something I do. Ever. The earliest I start work is 9.30am and I work a maximum 5 minute walk from my house at the lovely Bake-a-boo tearoom. How I will cope with early early mornings is yet to be seen but, as one tends to when necessary, I will hopefully adapt.
All in all I just know that 2014 is going to be an amazing year full of new experiences and new places!I leave my bubble in 26 days (exciting!!) so zàijiàn for now until my Asian adventure really begins!
Leaving the day before my 22nd birthday, I am heading to China to start a 5 month contract teaching English. Right now all I really know is that I am flying out to Beijing for a week training and beyond that my stay is truly a mystery. I don't know where I'll be placed (I didn't realise how huge China really is before now) or even what age I'll be teaching. It is hard to explain quite how excited I really am and weirdly I don't really feel nervous or apprehensive at all, but perhaps I should be.
I have always wanted to visit China. As a tiny child because of my obsession with pandas but as I grew older because of China's rich culture and history. That I'm staying for 5 months instead of a 2 week holiday just feels like a dream right now and I'm beyond excited to be able to visit the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army and all the other amazing sights I've been daydreaming about on Pinterest.
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| The Giant Buddah Statue in Leshan |
The only point which does cause me an inkling of worry is that I have never actually stood in front of a class before. What if, god forbid, I get my brand new class of lovely children and suddenly discover that I hate teaching? I really don't think it will happen and for now let's just ignore it and say that that will be a hurdle I cross if it comes up!
But even if there is one element I don't enjoy about my trip, I know in my heart of hearts that there will be dozens of other things that I am enjoying so any worries of mine are quickly abandoned.
Overall it is definitely my mum who is most worried. She regularly sends me articles about weird and bizarre things that have happened in China.
Example: "Depressed single man cuts off his own penis because it's no use to him"
To calm her mothers paranoia I have promised that I will keep my London 'ghetto' common sense about me at all times and that I won't scold my students too harshly so that they won't try to kill me, or themselves. Outside of all the excitement and mother drama there are lots of things I will miss about my little London bubble. Here are the top three...
1) My Friends and Facebook
Friends had to come first. With the difficultly of actually getting onto Facebook, or any social media really, it will inevitably be difficult to keep in contact with people and as a person who is permanently attached to my phone this could be challenging. But my hope is that of will be having too much fun and be too busy to worry too much about getting on social media. Although if it isn't posted on Facebook or Instagram, did it really happen? Hey-ho. They managed in 'the olden days' with no internet or mobiles so I'm sure I will survive on email and skype.2) Good Old British Food
There is nothing like sausage, mashed potatoes and beans on a cold winter evening or a delicious Caesar salad (okay okay maybe not the most British of meals) on a hot summers day! I love Asian cuisine and I'm actually looking forward to trying some of the uh...delicacies, such as chicken feet (although I think I'll be giving monkey brains a miss) but sometimes I just want a bit of British cooking!
3) Sleeping In
I'm not sure if the rumours are true, but I have heard that Chinese schools can start their school day at 5:30am and end at 8pm. If this is true it will be a complete shock to the system. Currently early rising is not something I do. Ever. The earliest I start work is 9.30am and I work a maximum 5 minute walk from my house at the lovely Bake-a-boo tearoom. How I will cope with early early mornings is yet to be seen but, as one tends to when necessary, I will hopefully adapt.
All in all I just know that 2014 is going to be an amazing year full of new experiences and new places!I leave my bubble in 26 days (exciting!!) so zàijiàn for now until my Asian adventure really begins!
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